Tommy Dunne to appeal three-month ban for Waterford red card

14 November 2020; Tipperary selector Tommy Dunne during the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship Qualifier Round 2 match between Cork and Tipperary at LIT Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Tipperary coach Tommy Dunne could be freed up to assist Colm Bonnar for this Sunday's Munster SHC Round 2 game against Clare despite picking up a three-month ban.

The 2001 All-Ireland winning captain and hurler of the year was handed down the penalty for a verbal altercation with referee Johnny Murphy at half-time in last Sunday's provincial opener in Walsh Park.

Dunne is believed to have taken issue with the injury sustained by Seamus Kennedy in the first half and was dismissed by Murphy just before the second half commenced.

Dunne has three days from notice of the suspension to contest it, which Tipperary have confirmed he will be doing. As a result, it may not be possible for the Central Hearings Committee to schedule a meeting before the game. Therefore, he may be permitted to man the sideline in FBD Semple Stadium.

Toomevara man Dunne, now in his fourth consecutive season coaching the seniors, was part of Liam Sheedy's set-up when they claimed the 2019 All-Ireland title. He was also coach and selector to Declan Ryan when Tipperary won successive Munster titles in 2011 and '12.

A ban would prevent Dunne from any involvement with the team for the three-month period. Speaking about him earlier this year, Bonnar underlined his importance to the set-up and admitted he had worked hard to convince him to remain in the set-up.

"He’s such a passionate Tipp man, he lives it on his heart, on his sleeve. He’s a top-class coach. If Tommy left the game now his legacy is there already as a player and as a coach, having coached All-Ireland minor, U21 and senior teams to victory, and being in counties like Dublin where they would have won their Leinster title. So Tommy doesn’t have to impress anybody.

"Tommy is there for the right reasons, trying to build these younger players and give them that passion and experience. He has been a huge help to me in terms of the transition from last year’s group to here and has given me a lot of insights in terms of ‘we need to move this a bit further ahead’ or ‘we can try this.’ 

"So I was delighted. It took a long time to kind of get to him and talk to him because he probably felt he had been involved for a long number of years and it was time to move on, but I was delighted I managed to change his mind. I’m getting the benefits of it, and so are the players."